


shift the tide

by blackkat



Series: Horoscope Drabbles [28]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Boruto Era, Fix-It of Sorts, M/M, Post-Canon, Supernatural Elements, Unhappy marriage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-10-07 07:09:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17361344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackkat/pseuds/blackkat
Summary: Naruto doesn’t want to go home, and maybe that’s why he notices.





	shift the tide

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by Normal Horoscopes on Tumblr:
> 
> Aquarius: All this color and noise. So many strangers milling about. It would be hard to notice a stranger to all walking among them. Something that never enters and never exits.

Naruto doesn’t want to go home, and maybe that’s why he notices.

Konoha at the end of the day is a rush of motion and color, a thousand people hurrying elsewhere. In contrast, Naruto feels stuck, frozen. Like he’s locked in place and can't move. Hinata is waiting for him at home, and Boruto and Himawari too, but—

His office is quiet, and here he doesn’t have to face the cold emptiness that rises whenever he steps foot in the house. Hinata feels it, too; she’s been spending more time with Tenten recently, hasn’t tried to argue Naruto down from sleeping on the couch every night. The children haven’t noticed yet, but—

This is the slow spiral down, and Naruto is too tired to try and fix it.

The streets of Konoha are a solace. Busy and bright, full of smiling people, laughter, children running. Naruto looks down from the roof of the Administration Building and finds that he can smile without hesitation, watching the press. Familiar faces, all of them, because they're Naruto's people and he _knows_ them.

And, in their midst, a single stranger.

Naruto goes still, watching the figure. One spot of colorlessness among the whirl of passing forms, and the sight of him is strangely familiar, like Naruto has seen him pass a thousand times before and is only just now registering his presence. He frowns a little, leaning forward, and _something_ sparks up his replacement arm, like a static shock. It makes him suck in a breath, twitching away from the sensation, but it’s gone as quickly as it appeared.

Down in the crowd, the stranger stops. He turns, then looks up.

Naruto holds his gaze, staring down into dark eyes edged in violet, a cold face with a lonely slant to the mouth. A _familiar_ face, something he knows deep in his bones, with an immediacy that startles him. Swallowing, Naruto rises to his feet, takes a step forward, but the stranger doesn’t move. He just watches as Naruto leaps lightly from the rooftop, dropping into the crowd. Several people startle, duck out of the way, but Konoha is a ninja village even now. A moment later the crowd simply parts around him, several people nodding or smiling at their Hokage, and Naruto takes a step forward.

“You're Indra,” he says in surprise, and looks past the man, not sure if he’s searching for Sasuke or more strangers. An invasion force, maybe, or an escort.

“I am,” Indra says, and there's a shadow of a smirk starting to pull at his mouth. “Don’t look so worried. I haven’t reclaimed the portion of my chakra that my descendant holds. He’s still alive and well.”

Tension slides down Naruto's shoulders, eases, and he closes his eyes for a moment, then opens them. Smiles at Indra, and if he can't summon the brightness that used to be there—well. It’s been a very long year. “Shouldn’t you declare yourself to the Hokage when you get here?” he asks, and isn't sure if it’s a joke or not.

Indra regards him for a long moment, then steps closer, and it’s as if the crowd around them has ceased to exist. He reaches out, touching the edge of Naruto's white cloak, smoothing the fold where it falls across Naruto's chest. “Hokage-sama, haven’t you noticed?” he asks, and the smile he offers is a taunt, a challenge. “I've been here all along. You simply didn’t notice me.”

Naruto freezes, caught off guard, and Indra chuckles. He steps back, turns, and vanishes into the throng, and in a moment it’s as if he never existed at all.

The imprint of is hand is a point of heat against Naruto's chest, and his new arm is tingling. Naruto looks up the street, then down it, and rakes a had through his hair, not sure if the feeling bubbling up in his chest is frustration or excitement. If those words were true, if Indra's been here all along and Naruto has just never seen him—

Something’s changed. There's a difference now, and Naruto can feel it in the air. Like anticipation rising in his veins, like something bright against the dull greyness of his life. He turns, leaps up to land in a crouch on the roof, and it feels like the sudden rush of spring rising through Konoha's roots.

He’ll search all of Konoha if he has to, but he’s going to find Indra again.


End file.
